An unprecedented conceptual design; embodied in architectural excellence
Put the best of science, art and philosophy together in one creation and you have the definitive monument of human civilisation. UNESCO calls it the symbol of World Heritage. The world calls it the Athenian Acropolis!
Check also:
Acropolis Restoration Service
The Acropolis of Athens and its monuments are universal symbols of the
classical spirit and civilization and form the greatest architectural
and artistic complex bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world. In the
second half of the fifth century bc, Athens, following the victory
against the Persians and the establishment of democracy, took a leading
position amongst the other city-states of the ancient world. In the age
that followed, as thought and art flourished, an exceptional group of
artists put into effect the ambitious plans of Athenian statesman
Pericles and, under the inspired guidance of the sculptor Pheidias,
transformed the rocky hill into a unique monument of thought and the
arts. The most important monuments were built during that time: the
Parthenon, built by Ictinus, the Erechtheon, the Propylaea, the
monumental entrance to the Acropolis, designed by Mnesicles and the
small temple Athena Nike.
Long Description
The Athenian Acropolis is the supreme expression of the
adaptation of architecture to a natural site. This grand composition of
perfectly balanced massive structures creates a monumental landscape of
unique beauty consisting of a complete series of masterpieces of the 5th
century BC. The monuments of the Acropolis have exerted an exceptional
influence, not only in Graeco-Roman antiquity, a time when in the
Mediterranean world they were considered exemplary models, but in
contemporary times as well.
From myth to institutionalized cult, the Acropolis, by virtue of its
precision and diversity, bears a unique testimony to the religions of
ancient Greece. It is the sacred temple from which sprang fundamental
legends about the city. It illustrates the civilizations of Greece over
more than a millennium. From the royal palace of kings in the 15th
century BC and the Pelasgic walls of the first fortification, to the
Odeon constructed in AD 161 by Herod Atticus, a unique series of public
monuments was built and conserved in one of the densest spaces of the
Mediterranean.
The Acropolis is located on a rocky promontory 156m above the valley
of Ilissos; it covers a surface area of less than 3ha. From the 2nd
millennium BC it was a fortress protecting places of worship and royal
palaces. Access to the plateau was protected by a wall, the Pelasgicon,
which existed prior to the invasions of the Dorians who threatened
Athens beginning in 1200. After the fall of the tyrants, Hipparchus in
514 and Hippias in 510, the Acropolis was reconstructed. The Pelasgicon,
which a Delphic oracle declared cursed, was destroyed. The upper town,
deprived of its ramparts, was weakened, and in 480 the Persians under
Xerxes took it over, looting and burning the sanctuaries. Paradoxically,
the looting of the Acropolis in 480 BC guaranteed the conservation of
one of the most impressive collections of archaic sculpture in the Greek
world. The rampart was destroyed in 472-471, at the same time as the
'Long Walls,' which enclosed Athens and its port at Piraeus. With
Pericles the 5th century BC marks the apogee of Athenian democracy. A
period of several decades, 447-406 BC, saw the successive building of
the main temple dedicated to Athena, the Parthenon; the Propylaea, the
monumental entrance which replaced the Gate of Pisistratus, built on the
very site of one of the entrances to the citadel of the ancient kings;
the temple of Athena Nike; and the Erechtheion - the four masterpieces
of classical Greek art. Although the disastrous Peloponnesian War and
the capitulation of Athens in April 404 BC caused the demolition of the
Long Walls, they did not affect the Acropolis monuments.
The sacred hill of Athens, whose monuments were the admiration of
all, continued to be beautified by the powerful personalities of the
moment, including the sovereigns of Pergamon, Cappadocia, and Egypt,
Roman Emperors such as Claudius and Hadrian, and wealthy private
citizens like Herod Atticus, the private tutor of Marcus Aurelius. The
first incidence of damage to the monumental heritage of the Acropolis
came at the time of the Herulian raid in AD 267. Since then and in spite
of long periods of relative calm, the monuments and the site have been
damaged many times. The Byzantines converted the temples into churches
and removed their art treasures to Constantinople. After the fall of the
Byzantine Empire in 1204, Athens was put into the hands of Frankish
lords who had little respect for its ruins.
When the Turks took over the
city in 1456, it became a mosque, and the Erechtheion was used from
time to time as the harem of the Turkish governor. In 1687, the most
tragic of dates, the siege of the Acropolis by the Venetian armies of
Morosini resulted in the explosion of the Parthenon, which the Turks
used as a powder magazine. In the 19th century, with official
authorization from the Sultan, Lord Elgin, ambassador of the King of
England to the Sublime Porte, completed the pillaging by acquiring
marble sections which since 1815 have been the pride of the British
Museum. After a century of excavations and improvements of the site, the
Acropolis is now a testing ground for the most innovative open-air
conservation techniques aimed at safeguarding the marble sections, which
have been affected by heavy atmospheric pollution.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου